The Sociolinguistic Complications and Present Implications of English-Spanish Legal Interpretation

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the sociolinguistic complications of legal interpretation between English and Spanish and the deficit of accessible and adequate legal interpretation considering the systemic barriers and complex history between the United States and Latin America. Legal interpretation differs from other translative contexts for many reasons, namely the amount of jargon used in the field, the raised stakes for courtroom participants, and the variety of interpretations for terms originating in dialectal or hybridized Spanishes. Interpreters must balance exactness and appropriateness, which casts a heavy burden upon them to avoid common sociolinguistic pitfalls while operating under the limiting rules of U.S. courtrooms. Unfortunately, consequential errors occur often in English-Spanish legal interpretation, violating the constitutional rights of Spanish speakers and impeding justice. Although solutions vary on how to remedy the present inequality for Spanish speakers in the American court system, there is a clear need for a higher government standard and improved education resources regarding legal interpreters, as proved by this thesis.